Grant programs · New York State

The NYS Septic System Replacement Fund, explained in plain English

New York will reimburse eligible homeowners for a large share of the cost of replacing a failing septic system or cesspool. Here's who qualifies, how much you can get, and the mistakes that disqualify people.

How much money is available

Under the program rules updated in 2025, eligible property owners can be reimbursed:

• 50% of eligible costs, up to $10,000, for installing a conventional replacement system; or
• 75% of eligible costs, up to $25,000, for installing an enhanced septic system — one with advanced treatment that removes nitrogen or phosphorus.

The state deliberately made the enhanced-system reimbursement richer, so that a better system can end up costing you the same as — or less than — a conventional one. In 2025 the Governor's office announced a further $30 million for Round 5 of the fund, so the program is active and funded, but counties award money while their allocations last.

Who qualifies

Three conditions have to line up:

1. Your county participates. The fund is administered county by county. Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland, Westchester and many others participate; each has a local program contact, usually in the health department.
2. Your property is in a priority area. In general that means within about 250 feet of a specific "priority waterbody" — a lake, reservoir, or stream the DEC has designated as impaired or as drinking-water supply. Each county's list is different, and it changes between funding rounds. Systems slightly beyond 250 feet can sometimes still qualify if they're failing and affecting the waterbody.
3. Your system is failing or likely to fail. Backups, surfacing sewage, a deteriorated or cracked tank, a saturated leach field, or a cesspool (which the program specifically wants to eliminate) all count. Counties typically verify with an inspection or dye test.

Three limits that catch people out

• 1,000 gallons per day. The Fund covers single-family and two-family homes, and small businesses, with an existing design sewage flow not exceeding 1,000 gpd.
• New construction is not eligible. This is a replacement and repair programme.
• Seasonal and secondary homes can qualify — but only where the participating county determines the existing system has reasonable potential to adversely affect a priority waterbody. That is a county judgement, so ask rather than assume either way.

Source: NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation, Septic System Replacement Fund Program Outline, December 2025 edition.

The process, step by step

1. Call your county's program contact (health department in most counties) and ask two questions: is my property within a priority area, and is funding currently available?
2. Document the failure. The county will typically want an inspection report, a dye test, or their own site visit confirming the system is failing or likely to fail.
3. Submit the application and wait for the award letter. Do not sign anything with a contractor yet.
4. Get quotes from licensed installers. In Putnam County, for instance, septic work must be done by a county-registered contractor — using an unregistered one can void both your permit and your reimbursement. (Our Putnam installer list is here.)
5. Build, keep every receipt, and submit for reimbursement. The grant is a reimbursement — you (or your financing) pay the contractor, then the county pays you back the covered share. Some costs don't count: routine pumping, permit fees, sales tax, and landscaping beautification are typical exclusions.

Other programs that stack or substitute

The state fund is the headline program, but it's not the only money available in this region:

• NYC DEP East of Hudson Septic Rehabilitation Program — if you live in the New York City watershed in Putnam, Westchester or south-eastern Dutchess (the Kensico, Boyd Corners, West Branch, Cross River, Croton Falls, East Branch, Diverting, Middle Branch, or Bog Brook reservoir basins), a separate reimbursement program funded by NYC covers repair or replacement of failing systems. Many homeowners near the reservoirs qualify for this even when they don't qualify for the state fund.
• County income-based assistance — for example, the Putnam County Housing Corporation offers income-qualified grants and loans that can cover septic repairs, with a separate program for homeowners over 60 that can even cover inspection and pumping.
• USDA Section 504 Home Repair loans and grants — for low-income rural homeowners; grants of up to $10,000 for those 62+ who can't repay a loan.

County guides

• Putnam County grant guideEligible lakes, PCDOH contacts, and the East of Hudson program
• Dutchess County grant guide23 eligible waterbodies, the county's address map, and how to apply
• Ulster County grant guide34 waterbodies — and a second program that pays up to 100%
• Westchester County grant guideFour programs, including one offering free repairs in the NYC watershed
• Rockland County grant guideThe order you must apply in, and the two-tank rule that raises the cost
• Albany County grant guideTen waterbodies, and the tier the county page leaves out

These five are the participating counties in our coverage area. Every other participating county in New York is listed in the table below, with its own programme contact.

Every participating county in New York

The fund is administered county by county, and 52 counties take part. Between them the state has designated 615 eligible waterbody segments. If your county is not in this table, it is not in the programme — ask your county health or planning department what else exists locally.

Eligibility generally means your property sits within 250 feet of one of the designated waterbodies in your county, and your system is failing or likely to fail. Beyond 250 feet the county has discretion. The number of segments below is a rough guide to how much of a county is covered — not a measure of your own address. Only your county can tell you whether you qualify, which is why the contact for each one is listed.

Source: NYS Environmental Facilities Corporation, Septic System Replacement Fund Priority Waterbody List, dated 14 July 2026, and EFC's participating-counties table, read 8 September 2026. Segment counts are our own count of the rows listed under each county in that PDF. Note that EFC's own page still describes the county and waterbody list as updated in April 2024, while the current PDF is dated July 2026 — we have used the PDF. Contact details change; several published county email addresses have bounced in our own testing, so treat the phone number as the reliable route.

We publish detailed guides for 5 counties so far — the ones where we have read the county's own sanitary code and spoken to its health department. Everywhere else, the contact above is the person to call.

Paying for it

Grants are only part of the answer, and most of them are reimbursements — you pay the contractor first and claim afterwards, so you need the money in place either way. There are also loans at 1%, grants for homeowners over 62, and county programmes that are rarely advertised.

• How to pay for a septic replacement in New YorkGrants, loans, help for seniors — and whether you have to pay any of it back
• Help for seniors and low-income homeownersUSDA grants for over-62s, loans at 1%, and county programmes nobody finds